Shoe

ABSTRACT

A shoe includes a sole unit, a vamp unit and a welt. The sole unit has a main body that has a top surface, and a protruding wall that extends upwardly from the top surface and that is adjacent to a periphery of the top surface such that, the top surface is divided into an inner region and an outer region by the protruding wall. The main body and the protruding wall are formed as one piece. The vamp unit has a bottom end portion that is connected to the inner region of the top surface and the protruding wall. The welt is connected to the outer region of the top surface and the protruding wall and has a top end lower than that of the protruding wall.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a shoe, more particularly to a shoe having a welt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional shoe includes a sole unit 1 that has a top surface 101, a vamp unit 2 that has a bottom end portion 201 connected to the top surface 101 of the sole unit 1, and a welt 3 that surrounds the bottom end portion 201 of the vamp unit 2 so as to form an appearance of a goodyear welt shoe. The welt 3 has a horizontal portion 301 connected to the top surface 101 of the sole unit 1 and a vertical portion 302 connected to the bottom end portion 201 of the vamp unit 2. The horizontal portion 301 and the vertical portion 302 are formed as one piece. The bottom end portion 201 of the vamp unit 2 is connected to both the top surface 101 of the sole unit 1 and the vertical portion 302 of the welt 3 by gluing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a shoe that can overcome the aforesaid drawback of the prior art.

According to this invention, a shoe includes a sole unit, a vamp unit and a welt. The sole unit has a main body that has a top surface, and a protruding wall that extends upwardly from the top surface and that is adjacent to a periphery of the top surface such that, the top surface is divided into an inner region and an outer region by the protruding wall. The main body and the protruding wall are formed as one piece. The vamp unit has a bottom end portion that is connected to the inner region of the top surface and the protruding wall. The welt is connected to the outer region of the top surface and the protruding wall and has a top end lower than that of the protruding wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment of this invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional shoe;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the embodiment of a shoe according to this invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main body of a sole unit of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the embodiment taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a variation of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of another variation of the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of yet another variation of the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the embodiment taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of yet another variation of the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of yet another variation of the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of yet another variation of the embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of yet another variation of the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the embodiment of a shoe according to the present invention is shown to include a sole unit 10, a vamp unit 20, a welt 30, a thread 40 and an inner lining 50.

The sole unit 10 has a main body 11 that has a top surface 111, and a protruding wall 12 that extends upwardly from the top surface 111 and that is adjacent to a periphery of the top surface 111 such that, the top surface 111 is divided into an inner region 113 and an outer region 112 by the protruding wall 12. The main body 11 and the protruding wall 12 are formed as one piece. The sole unit 10 further has an insole 13 that is disposed on the inner region 113 of the top surface 111. In a variation of this embodiment, the sole unit 10 may further has an outsole (not shown in Figure) that is disposed under and connected to a bottom surface of the main body 11. The outsole can be made of a non-slip material, such as rubber.

The vamp unit 20 has a bottom end portion 22 that is connected to the inner region 113 of the top surface 111 and the protruding wall 12, and a top end portion 21 that is opposite to the bottom end portion 22. In this embodiment, the bottom end portion 22 is connected to an end portion of the insole 13 to form a thread lasted construction.

The welt 30 is connected to the outer region 112 of the top surface 111 and the protruding wall 12, and has a top end 30 a lower than a top end 12 a of the protruding wall 12. In this embodiment, a color of the protruding wall 12 of the sole unit 10 is different from a color of the welt 30. Since the protruding wall 12 is substantially higher than the welt 30, the protruding wall 12 cooperates with the welt 30 to form an aesthetic double-color appearance. However, it should be noted that in other embodiments, the color of the protruding wall 12 can also be the same as the color of the welt 30. To be more specific, in this embodiment, the welt 30 encircles the outer region 112 of the top surface 111 to form a close-loop.

However, in a variation of this embodiment, the outer region 112 of the top surface 111 may be located at a front side of the sole unit 10. The welt 30 is disposed on the outer region 112 of the top surface 111 to form a U-shape (i.e., the welt 30 merely surrounds the front half of the main body 11) (see FIG. 11).

In another variation of this embodiment, the outer region 112 of the top surface 111 may be located at a lateral side of the sole unit 10. The welt 30 is disposed on the outer region 112 of the top surface 111 to form a bar shape (see FIG. 12).

It should be noted that the positions of the welt 30 disclosed herein are just examples for illustration and should not be taken as limitations of this disclosure.

In this embodiment, the sole unit 10 is made of a material the same as that of the welt 30. The sole unit 10 and the welt 30 can be made of polyurethane (PU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), rubber or a combination thereof. However, it should be noted that, in other embodiments, the sole unit 10 could also be made of a material different from that of the welt 30. For example, the sole unit 10 could be made of the aforesaid materials, while the welt 30 is made of leather. Different materials of the sole unit 10 and the welt 30 could cooperatively form an aesthetic appearance.

The thread 40 stitches the welt 30 to the sole unit 10. However, it should be understood that in a variation of this embodiment, the thread 40 can merely stitches the welt 30 (i.e., the thread 40 does not stitches the sole unit 10) for a decoration purpose. In this case, the welt 30 is adhered to the sole unit 10.

The inner lining 50 is disposed within the vamp unit 20.

FIG. 5 shows a variation of this embodiment. In this variation, the protruding wall 12 has a front higher part 121 that is located at a front side of the protruding wall 12 and a rear higher part 122 that is located at a rear side of the protruding wall 12. The front and rear higher parts 121, 122 respectively cover and protect a head portion and a heel portion of the vamp unit 20.

FIGS. 6 to 10 show other variations of this embodiment. Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8, the protruding wall 12 has two bendable parts 123 that are respectively located at two opposite lateral sides of the protruding wall 12 so that the shoe could be easily bendable. In one example, the bendable parts 123 are respectively formed with two notches 120 (see FIG. 6). In another example, each of the bendable parts 123 has a thickness smaller than that of the remaining part of the protruding wall 12 (see FIGS. 7 and 8). Moreover, the protruding wall 12 could also be formed with all of the front higher part 121, the rear higher part 122, and the bendable parts 123 (see FIGS. 9 and 10).

To sum up, advantages and merits of the present invention are as follows:

(1) Since the sole unit 10 and the welt 30 are separate elements, they could be easily made of different colors before they are connected to each other. Therefore, the protruding wall 12 of the sole unit 10 could easily cooperate with the welt 30 to form an aesthetic double-color appearance.

(2) In the present invention, the bottom end portion 22 of the vamp unit 20 is intimately connected to the inner region 113 of the top surface 111 and the protruding wall 12 (see FIG. 4). That is to say, the vamp unit 20 is only connected to the sole unit 10 so that the adhesive force between the vamp unit 20 and the sole unit 10 is uniform and even, thereby creating a stable adhesive condition.

(3) Since the welt 30 covers a portion of the protruding wall 12, the sole unit 10 is able to form a relatively thin visual appearance.

(4) Since the outer region 112 of the top surface 111 of the main body 11 is well defined by the protruding wall 12, before adhering the welt 30 to the sole unit 10, there is no need to draw lines on the top surface 111 for accurately positioning the welt 30 on the sole unit 10.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation and equivalent arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoe, comprising: a sole unit having a main body that has a top surface, and a protruding wall that extends upwardly from said top surface and that is adjacent to a periphery of said top surface such that, said top surface is divided into an inner region and an outer region by said protruding wall, said main body and said protruding wall being formed as one piece; a vamp unit having a bottom end portion that is connected to said inner region of said top surface and said protruding wall; and a welt connected to said outer region of said top surface and said protruding wall and having a top end lower than that of said protruding wall.
 2. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a thread that stitches said welt to said sole unit.
 3. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein a color of said protruding wall of said sole unit is different from that of said welt.
 4. The shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein said sole unit is made of a material the same as that of said welt.
 5. The shoe as claimed in claim 4, wherein said sole unit and said welt are made of the material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, rubber and a combination thereof.
 6. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an inner lining disposed within said vamp unit.
 7. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protruding wall has a front higher part that is located at a front side of said protruding wall and a rear higher part that is located at a rear side of said protruding wall.
 8. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protruding wall has two bendable parts that are respectively located at two opposite lateral sides of said protruding wall and that are respectively formed with two notches.
 9. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protruding wall has two bendable parts that are respectively located at two opposite lateral sides of said protruding wall, each of said bendable parts having a thickness smaller than that of the remaining part of said protruding wall.
 10. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said welt is made of leather. 